Description

In the late 90s / early 2000, when Francois-Paul Journe was establishing his brand, he was producing the movements in brass. Roughly around 2,000 brass movements were produced between 2001 and 2004, after which, and as the brand was firmly established, Journe started making rose gold movements.

Over the next decade the popularity of the brand grew tremendously, cementing itself among the greatest names in modern watchmaking. F.P. Journe now has become a household name among the collectors, with literally nothing available for outright purchase from the catalogue.

As more new collectors started buying Journes, a few discerning ones turned their attention toward the pieces made during the infancy of the brand, the ones with the brass movements so to speak. Given the extreme rarity of such timepieces, the prices of such pieces have shot through the skies, and still soaring since there are only a handful watches out in the market, with a lot of wrists bidding for them.

The present reference Octa Reserve de Marche is one such rarity encased in a 38mm platinum case. What makes this even more special is the salmon hue of the dial. The off-centered dial, with an integrated sub-second dial makes room for the large power reserve indicator displaying 120hrs of energy. The big-date aperture sits on the shoulder of the hours/minutes dial. All floating in a pool of salmon color that runs right to the edge of the case.

On the inside is the automatic, self-winding F.P. Journe caliber 1300 constructed from rhodium-plated brass. The finishing on this Côtes de Genève stamped movement is exemplary on literally every corner of each component.

Offered on a brown leather strap which compliments the platinum case and the rhodium-finished movement quite beautifully.

F.P. Journe – Bio

François-Paul Journe was born in Marseille in 1959. An unruly child, he was sent to a local technical college at the age of 14. He went on to graduate from the Paris watchmaking school in 1976.
In 1982, after five years of work, he finished his tourbillon – and it work !
He founded the F.P. Journe company in 1999, have ever since stunned the world year after year with the visually distinctive and technically innovative watches
The motto of the brand, Invenit et Fecit (Latin for “[He] invented it and made it”) denotes that the company builds the entirety of the watches. Journe often designs brand new movements, even inventing completely new systems, like the famous resonance chronometer.